Diversity Recruiting

Google’s 2017 diversity report, released last week, expands on the information included in previous reports to cover the retention and attrition of underrepresented talent, as well as an intersectional analysis of race and gender at Google. Overall diversity figures were little changed from last year’s report and showed limited progress since 2014, when Google first began making this data public. Men make up 69.1 percent of the tech giant’s workforce, while its racial makeup is 53.1 percent white, 36.3 percent Asian, 2.5 percent black, 3.6 percent Hispanic or Latinx, and 4.2 percent multiracial. In 2014, the Googler community was 61.3 percent white, 30 percent Asian, 1.9 percent black, 2.9 percent Hispanic/Latinx, and 3.6 percent multiracial.

The company has made some progress in improving the gender balance of its leadership over the past four years, with its the percentage of women in leadership globally rising from 20.8 to 25.5 percent. Google’s US leadership is 66.9 percent white, 26.3 percent Asian, 2 percent black, 1.8 percent Latinx, 0.4 percent Native American, and 2.7 percent of more than one race. Black and Latinx representation in leadership have improved slightly since 2014, while the report highlights that 5.4 percent of new leadership hires in 2017 were black.

The attrition data included in this report touches on an issue that tech companies struggling with diversity and inclusion have discovered to be of critical importance: not just recruiting diverse candidates but also retaining those employees for the long term. Based on an index of US attrition, Google’s report shows that attrition rates are highest among black and Latinx employees, at 127 and 115 compared to an overall index of 100. “Black Googler attrition rates, while improving in recent years, have offset some of our hiring gains,” Google acknowledges, “which has led to smaller increases in representation than we would have seen otherwise.” On a global index, attrition was slightly higher for men than for women, however, at 103 compared to 94.

In a profile of the company’s D&I program at the Atlantic on the occasion of that report, Jessica Nordell looked at several aspects of Slack’s approach to diversity that make it stand out from the crowd. One of these idiosyncrasies is that unlike many other tech companies, Slack doesn’t have a Chief Diversity Officer or other designated head of D&I:

While studies by the Harvard University professor Frank Dobbin, and colleagues, suggest having someone overseeing diversity efforts can increase the numbers of underrepresented groups in management, other measures, such as mentoring programs and transparency around what it takes to be promoted, are also important; a diversity chief alone may not be enough to make much of a difference. At Slack, the absence of a single diversity leader seems to signal that diversity and inclusion aren’t standalone missions, to be shunted off to a designated specialist, but are rather intertwined with the company’s overall strategy. As the CEO, Stewart Butterfield, has said, he wants these efforts to be something “everyone is engaged in.” Indeed, as the research by Dobbin and colleagues shows, involving employees in diversity policies leads to greater results.

The first lesson here is not “don’t have an appointed head of D&I,” but rather that there’s no one right way to structurally advance D&I. The Dobbin study makes sense because the D&I chief position ensures there’s always a voice in the room, but if any organization thinks they’ve solved D&I by creating a head of D&I role, they are sorely mistaken. In our work at CEB, now Gartner, we’ve seen organizations make progress with a large, singularly focused D&I function, or with a small but connected D&I function; with D&I reporting to HR, to the CEO, to the General Counsel, or to the Corporate Social Responsibility function.

Goldman Sachs on Friday reported its gender pay gap data in the UK in accordance with the law requiring most employers to do so by next month. According to Reuters, the bank reported a mean gender pay gap of 55.5 percent at its international business, with a bonus gap for that unit of 72.2 percent. The company’s data showed that within the international unit, 83 percent of those earning the highest hourly pay were men, while 62.4 percent of those earning the lowest hourly pay were women.

Perhaps in anticipation of this disclosure, Goldman announced a plan last week to improve its gender balance. In a memo, Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein and President David Solomon stressed that men and women at the company are paid equally for equal work, but acknowledged that women are underrepresented, particularly in senior roles. The bank’s leaders declared a long-term goal of having women make up exactly half of the company’s workforce, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. They did not set a timeline for this ambitious goal, but as a first step, will ensure a 50/50 gender split in each class of fresh graduates Goldman hires by 2021:

Employee referrals are much beloved among recruiters because more than most other methods of sourcing, they lead to higher-quality candidates with better chances of working out as a hire and staying with the organization long-term. Unfortunately, referrals have a dark side when it comes to diversity and inclusion, as they tend to benefit candidates from in-groups. SHRM’s Dana Wilkie flags a new study from PayScale showing how referrals tend to advantage white men over women and minorities in the US:

First, referrals benefit white men more than any other demographic group, according to recent research from the compensation data and software provider. Second, those referred by friends and relatives tend to earn less at their new job and be less engaged than those referred by business associates. And finally, a man referred by a business associate can expect, on average, an $8,200 salary increase, while a woman can expect a $3,700 increase. …

Women of any race and men of color are much less likely to receive referrals than their white male counterparts: White women are 12 percent less likely, men of color are 26 percent less likely, and women of color are 35 percent less likely to receive a referral, PayScale found.

The US is growing more ethnically and racially diverse. By 2040, non-white people are expected to make up a majority of the population. The best organizations are getting ahead of this trend by creating a workplace environment that supports diversity. These efforts are leading to better results for employees and the organization: Companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity have 35 percent higher financial returns than the national industry average, according to our research at CEB, now Gartner.

To increase racial and ethnic diversity throughout the organization and leadership team—and to realize the benefits of a diverse workforce—organizations must attract diverse employees and remove barriers to their career advancement. Taking these five steps can help you meet both of these goals:

Highlight organizational stability in job postings. When considering new employment opportunities, racially and ethnically diverse candidates are 1.2 times as likely as other candidates to list organizational stability (i.e., the relative continuity of the organization over time, particularly as it relates to long-term roles) as a key factor in a new job search.

Train managers for success. Racially and ethnically diverse candidates are 40 percent more likely than other candidates to consider switching jobs if the prospective organization promises more skilled direct managers and colleagues.

Offer financial wellness benefits. Student debt reimbursement programs and family-related benefits, such as emergency or onsite daycare and parental leave, are among racially and ethnically diverse employees’ top benefits preferences.

Create specific initiatives for all levels in the organization. Most senior leadership teams do not reflect the diversity seen at the frontline and lower management levels of the organization. Identify specific initiatives to strengthen the pipeline of diverse talent at each stage in the employee development cycle.

Encourage networked management. Time spent coaching does not always translate to better performance outcomes. Our research shows that connecting employees with relevant formal and informal learning opportunities is the most effective way to improve their performance through coaching.

CEB Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council members can access a range of additional resources to learn more about attracting and retaining diverse talent.

According to a recent study by the Perception Institute, one in five black women feel social pressure to straighten their hair for work, and though all women worry about about how their hair is perceived, black women are much more likely to feel anxiety over the issue than white women are. That anxiety is apparently warranted: the Perception Institute also found that, irrespective of race, the majority of the more than 4,000 people who participated in the study demonstrated an implicit bias against black women’s (naturally) textured hair, rating it less professional than smoother hair. As the study concludes, be it overall perceptions of professionalism, first impressions during an interview, or general ideas about health and beauty, “attitudes toward black women’s hair can shape opportunities in these contexts, and innumerable others.”

Bias against black women’s textured hair can play out in a number of ways in the workplace, from everyday cultural slights and comments regarding these women’s hairstyles, to more concrete challenges such as misguided hiring decisions. And while banter in the break room surrounding a black colleague’s new hairstyle may seem like an otherwise innocuous conversation point, it may actually contribute to, or be a symptom of, a workplace culture in which black women are professionally judged over their hair.

Jopwell, a recruiting startup focused on connecting hiring managers with racially diverse candidates, has raised a $7.5 million Series A funding round led by Cue Ball Capital, Megan Rose Dickey notes at TechCrunch, giving it a total war chest of $11.75 million:

Founded by Porter Braswell and Ryan Williams, Jopwell has an impressive group of investors, including Magic Johnson Enterprises, Andreessen Horowitz, Kapor Capital and Joe Montana. This new round of funding will enable Jopwell to scale and take on more companies, Braswell and Williams told me. Jopwell’s primary focus has been on Fortune 1000 companies, but over the past two years or so, the company has seen demand from younger companies.

Candidates create a profile on the Jopwell website, much like on other job recruiting sites — the difference being that they are asked to select their racial identity. … Once the profile has been created, the system uses algorithms that analyze a candidate’s resume, skills, past experiences, and preferences, thus allowing Jopwell to tailor the pool of qualified applicants for hiring managers at partner companies. These include Airbnb, BlackRock, Facebook, LinkedIn, Lyft, Pinterest, and the NBA (Magic Johnson is an investor in Jopwell).